The war against the west

Thursday, 6th March 2008

Last night I attended the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, the organisation that provides the astounding degree of security now needed to help protect Britain's tiny Jewish population against attack. Sitting there listening to the appeal for money to finance this organisation, and watching the video of what it does and why it is needed, I was struck afresh by the shocking nature of this situation. The video showed Jewish schools in Britain being fitted with bomb-proof windows, Jewish children in Britain being taught how to fend off attack. Jews in Britain are now attacked more frequently than any other minority group.
Although racists have always attacked each and every minority group and that situation has not changed, the fact remains that minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims don't need to be guarded at their communal events; it is only Britain's Jews for whom that is considered a necessity, and they are guarded at every single synagogue service or communal event. Indeed, the street outside the London hotel where last night's dinner was held was knee-deep in police and CST volunteers. I was sitting with some very decent people, non-Jews, of the kind who might have been called in a different age the backbone of England. Did they not think that all this was quite extraordinary? I asked them. Shameful, they said; absolutely shameful and appalling; and they shook their heads in sorrow that such a thing should be the case in Britain in 2008, that British Jews should be at such risk that the task of guarding them was quite beyond the regular police and had to be undertaken in large measure by a standing force of Jewish volunteers.

At this dinner the guest of honour was David Cameron. He made a simply outstanding speech ripping into the moral bankruptcy of the useful idiots and worse who are appeasing Islamism in Britain ­ a speech of a strength, clarity and passion that I had not heard before. It marked a notable step change in Tory policy on terror and Islamism. It was basically a speech which said in effect 'They shall not pass' and it threw down the gauntlet to the government which has effectively been prostrating itself before the Islamists instead.

I can't find the speech at present on the Conservative Party website, but here are some highlights of what Cameron said:

To us, it seems self-evident that there is a clear dividing line between those who set out to kill and maim innocent civilians and those who do not. But the extremist mindset constantly seeks to muddy the water, to blur the distinction and even to invert the reality. Last year I visited Birmingham Central Mosque. While there, I was told that the 7/7 bombers were innocent and that, in fact, MI5 may have carried out the atrocities.I was particularly shocked because the person who said this was not some teenage hothead…he was the chairman of the Mosque…

During protests against the conflict in Lebanon, we witnessed the nauseating sight of well-scrubbed, middle class English people… marching through central London holding placards that read 'We are all Hizbollah'. That is the extremist mindset in action. These are the same people who urge a boycott of Israeli goods and academics… while saying nothing about China, Iran or Zimbabwe. Unless we challenge such attitudes and expose them for the morally-bankrupt nonsense they are… they will spread through the body politic and become the received wisdom of millions…

Gordon Brown recently banned Yusef al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a notorious preacher of hate, from Britain. A man who justifies suicide bombing and calls for homosexuals to be murdered has no place here. That's why I raised the matter in the House of Commons and asked the Prime Minister to keep him out. But at the same time I also called for him to exclude the head of Hezbollah's notoriously anti-semitic TV station, Ibrahim Moussawi. Moussawi was recently banned by the Irish government but for some reason he has now been allowed into Britain. He's here at the moment, on a speaking tour, spreading his vile message. The government cannot afford to split the difference with the extremists – excluding Qaradawi, letting in Moussawi. Terrorist apologists should be kept out. Full stop. Period…

Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an extremist organisation that poisons the minds of young Muslims against Jews, Christians and other unbelievers. Some of those who have been through its ranks have ended up in Al Qaeda. In short, it is a conveyor belt to terrorism. Tony Blair declared in 2005 that it would be banned. That didn't happen. Instead it is still active, recruiting on campuses and from London street gangs. There's only one responsible course of action. It's time to close down Hizb-ut-Tahrir…

The government has allocated hundreds of thousands of pounds to local authorities to improve community cohesion. But there are worrying signs that ministers have taken their eyes off the ball. Tower Hamlets council has received extensive funding for such projects. But it has now been revealed that one of the organisations it has given thousands of pounds to is a front for the Muslim Brotherhood called the Cordoba Foundation. And what was the first thing this organisation did with the money? It organised a public debate with the title 'Has Political Participation Failed British Muslims?' And who did they invite to speak? The leader of Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Even the most basic research would reveal that the Cordoba Foundation has close connections to people with extremist views, including Azzam Tamimi, the UK representative of Hamas.

There are indications that this problem is more widespread. In the weeks ahead I will be making proposals to isolate extremists and make certain they cannot obtain public grants or get invited to sit on public bodies. That won't just apply to Islamic extremists. We will be equally vigilant in ensuring that groups linked to the BNP or animal rights militants are excluded too. The message should be clear: To those who reject democracy. To those who preach hate. To those who encourage violence. You are not part of the mainstream. You will not get public funding. You are not welcome as part of our society. We will only defeat the extremist mindset if we understand and confront it.

It was, as I say, a very good speech. But the problem is yet deeper and wider still. For the Islamisation of Britain is proceeding apace. Here is a press notice that has reached me from the London law firm Clifford Chance about the £1 billion Islamic financing of Chelsea Barracks:

Clifford Chance has advised Project Blue (Guernsey) Limited in the acquisition and financing of Chelsea Barracks. Chelsea Barracks, situated in the City of Westminster, is the most valuable development site purchase in UK history. The purchase was completed on 31 January 2008 for a price of £959 million, with the payment split evenly over five years. The Islamic financing was for an amount in the region of £1 billion and is believed to be the largest Islamic financing of UK land.

Project Blue (Guernsey) Limited is majority owned by Qatari Diar, with investment from CPC Group, a Guernsey based Development Company owned by Christian Candy. It has appointed Candy & Candy as development managers and interior designers for the proposed residential scheme for the site. Clifford Chance real estate partner Mark Payne comments, 'This extraordinary site continues to set the bar for acquisition and residential development. Its many fascinating aspects now include one of the most complex and innovative financings ever seen in the UK. We are breaking new ground by creating and implementing an Islamic financing on this scale on a major development site in the UK. It was a tremendous team effort with a Clifford Chance real estate team combining market leading expertise in real estate, finance and tax…The site was sold by the Ministry of Defence advised by Philip Page of Michelmores LLP. The banks who underwrote the financing were Masraf Al Rayan, HSBC Amanah, BNP Paribas, Calyon Credit Agricole and Qatar National Bank, advised by a team from Norton Rose led by Anthony Pallett and Lucy Wolley Dod.

The Prime Minister has said Britain must become the global centre of Islamic banking. More and more public companies are being taken over by Islamic interests; we now have 'sharia-compliant' mortgages, and the Treasury is moving towards a system of Islamic bonds. The government seems completely unaware however that sharia banking comes with a devastating IOU­the Islamisation of all those who use it. That's why Investor's Business Daily recently warned:

Shariah-compliant finance involves investments and other transactions that have been structured to conform with the orthodox teachings of Islamic law…

Wall Street is jumping into this hot new market oblivious to the risks not just to the bottom line, but to national security. It knows little about Shariah law and is turning to consultants to create 'ethical' products to sell. Lost in the hype over these Muslim-friendly funds is that they must 'purify' their returns by transferring at least 3% into Islamic charities, many of which funnel funds to terrorists. So the Street may unwittingly be helping the evildoers launder blood money. Shariah law obligates that a sizable portion of zakat, or giving ­ one of the pillars of Islam ­ go to support jihad. So many of the purification donations generated from Shariah finance could wind up in the hands of our enemy…

These funds offer little transparency. They fail to disclose either the radical ties of the scholars who are advising and running them or the tenets that dictate the structuring of the investments. The prospectuses explain simply that the investments are 'ethical' or 'socially acceptable,' when in fact they're grounded in a religious doctrine that threatens America and the West. The main purpose of Shariah law is to promote Islam as the only legitimate governing system and to help establish its rule worldwide. Shariah-compliant finance is a means to that end. Ignoring in a time of war the moral hazards associated with such financial products, and treating them as if they were as benign and secular as any other, may be the height of corporate recklessness.

The attitude towards Islamism displayed by the British government and significant parts of the security establishment is reckless, ignorant and lethally misguided. If David Cameron keeps up this new approach and finds the courage ­ and he'll need it ­ to develop it yet further, he could find that finally his moment has arrived.
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